Shades of White
by tifaa
Summary: ONE SHOT - What happened to Tifa right before she helps Cloud recover his memories? When Tifa was plunged into the Life stream ...


Air was the first thing that smacked into her like dead weight as the ground beneath her split and she lost her footing. She hurtled, kicking through it, trying to catch some of that fleeting air in her lungs as it whizzed around her at frightening speeds. Tifa flailed helplessly, trying to grasp onto something but deep down, she knew it was no use. All she felt at the moment was the numbing fear that ate at her thoughts. Towards the end, the fight was sucked out of her and all she could do was fall.

- - -

Blinding light, the second thing that she felt. It was so bright it hurt to have your eyes closed. So startlingly clear that it still made her eyes throb when she attempted to open them. So she didn't. Tifa placidly put up her gloved hands as a shield and it lessened the pain somewhat. Who knew that light could resonate so strongly? It covered everything like a shroud, blanketing the space around her in liquid frost, scowering any semblance of shape or form.

Where was she? How could she be kneeling when she couldn't even tell what she was resting on? Murky questions mulled her thoughts as she lifted her head, blinking weakly against the brightness. A slight tremor rippled the ground that made Tifa's teeth rattle with it's ebbing. Low whispers punctuated the tremor, the sound of a million hushed voices so faint that her ears burned in her attempt to hear it.

She squinted admist the sea of snow, glancing around furtively but still seeing nothing but that strong, annoying press of pearl luminance.

The whispers grew fainter still.

Tifa's vision abruptly swirled as the ground beneath her pitched and rolled, and then she was gone again.

- - -

Black now, some relief from the last place she had been. It slipped over her closed eyelids, surrounded her limp body in blessed coolness. She opened her eyes and was immersed in black, such a contrast to the stark ivory from before. It still made things terribly difficult to see, but it didn't really matter because anything was better then what she'd experienced the last time.

It felt akin to floating, Tifa thought as she took her time to stand on shaky feet, bracing herself with a slow look around. That's what it felt like to set your foot upon something and feel the strength, but not see the ground beneath you. It was as if she was nearly weightless, wafting around on an invisible surface. Pressing a hand into the thick air around her, she spoke, her voice sounding timid and hoarse.

"Where am I?" She shook her head and began a slow jog, running through the inky darkness.

The whispers began again, louder then before, and her voice broke this time upon speaking. "Cloud?!" Where is he? ... Where am I? The question repeated did not help her. If anything, it made her mind more muddled with all that was going on around her. Tifa stopped, looking around with eyes wide. The whispers wound around her, turning upon themselves in muted tones to rise and scrape at her ears.

Then it all came flooding back to with startling clarity as she fumbled around in the darkness. The Lifestream. She was in the Lifestream but ... "How?" She muttered to the air, muttered to the all encompassing void. "Isn't the Lifestream green? Why am I here now?" Tifa whispered slowly, processing things as she went, still continuing to talk to herself as she started walking. "Cloud and I ... Cloud and I fell in ... "

Her gaze whipped around, almost expecting to see something different then the ebony expanse before and then ... nothing. "Where is he?" The sinking feeling settled around her heart as she realized. "We ... we've been separated." Determination filled her then. "I've got to find him. I've got to get to Cloud." Tifa ran a hand over her forehead, still muttering to herself. It was almost enough to make her wish for the brightness again, it made her wish for the inky pearl to spear into the dark and wipe her mind clean of the recent pain ...

The voices lashed out again, even louder, and it caused Tifa to break into a frantic run, covering her ears against the Planet's screams. She ran, she ran through the dark until her hands ached from how hard her fingers were pressing into her ears, she ran until her legs felt like jelly, she ran until her chest ached. And when she could take no more, she fell to her knees, head in her hands and a murmur of pain at her lips. "Augggh ... "

Shades of white erupted from all around her, seeping into the corners of the deep, flooding her vision, alabaster rays shooting from all sides to envelop her.

And then silence.


End file.
